ASIN: B00FJ350FS
ISBN-13: 978-0062244901
Publisher: HarperCollins
Line: Avon
Release Date: April 29, 2014
Pages: 384
Digital Retail: 7.99
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Genre: Historical
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating:
Sometimes It Takes a Scandal . . .
Abigail Weston has everything: beauty, wit, and one of the largest dowries in England. Her parents hope she'll wed an earl. Abigail hopes for a man who wants her desperately and passionately. But the money seems to blind every man she meets—except one.
Sebastian Vane has nothing. He came home from war with a shattered leg to find his father mad and his inheritance gone. He's not a fit suitor for anyone, let alone an heiress. But Abigail lights up his world like a comet, bright and beautiful and able to see him instead of his ruined reputation. And it might end happily ever after . . .
To Reveal Your Heart's Desire
. . . Until Benedict Lennox begins courting Abigail. Ben is everything Sebastian isn't—wealthy, charming, heir to an earl. Sebastian won't give up the only girl he's ever loved without a fight, but Abigail must choose between the penniless gentleman who moves her heart, and the suitor who is everything her parents want.
Review
Sebastian Vane has been brought down about as low as a man can get. He returned from the war with a shattered leg, and to find that his father has literally gone mad and sold off prime parcels of their land for a mere pittance. To make matters worse, his father has now disappeared, and many of the people in town believe that Sebastian murdered him. Abigail Weston and her family have come to this town to their newly purchased country estate. Abigail is a wealthy heiress, and her parents hope that she will marry a gentleman with a title. Sebastian and Abigail have a chance encounter in the woods, as he rescues her dog who had become caught up in some tangled shrubs. Abigail is grateful, and intrigued and issues an invitation for him to visit her home. Although polite, Sebastian doesn’t respond to her overtures. Once, she would have been the kind of woman he would have hoped to court, but no longer.
I admit to being a sucker for a wounded warrior, and I loved Sebastian. He was pretty much ostracized by everyone in town, and shunned by his former best friend. Yet, he still retained his dignity and treated everyone with courtesy. He encounters Abigail several more times, and as it becomes clear that she is interested in him, he decides he has to at least make an attempt to win her. As for Abigail, she isn’t your typical spoiled heiress. She is beautiful, but also has a goodness about her. She doesn’t care whether she marries a title, she wants to marry for love, and it is Sebastian she loves. I really like that her father is not typical either, in that he only wants her happiness. He doesn’t judge Sebastian on rumor, but there is some damning evidence that would indicate he may be a thief. There’s a villain in this story who is responsible for many of Sebastian’s woes, and he is truly odious!
I loved this book – I loved how Sebastian and Abigail talked to each other so there weren’t any misunderstandings between them. Once they committed to each other, their problems on the way to their happy ever after were from outside events, they weren’t of their own making. Caroline Linden has written a sexy, satisfying love story which, along with its characters, is sure to be one of my favorites of this year.
Reviewed by Rose